Merry Christmas from our house to yours...

I was sooo very excited when Papertrey introduced this new Boards and Beams set in June.  Can you say perfect for new house announcements that I will need to make here soon when our house is built.  However, in the meantime, this set makes a wonderful Christmas card.  Pair it with the Holiday Wishes set from PTI and you have a perfectly coordinated little card.  I tried very hard to add a little snow to the eaves.  I think the next one will be Liquid appliqued and then topped with a bit of chunky ice glitter.  This one just has some white glitter on it. 

 I found the greatest thing yesterday, okay maybe not so great since I bought so much, at Wal-Mart.  Martha Stewart craft papers, ribbons, punches, scrapbook and kits, and this awesome glitter.  There are 3 packs of glitter per package for only $5 and pretty much all the colors match a Stampin' UP! color.  Love it.  That is why I got so much.  And there is a glue pad they sell for $5 too that you ink up your stamp on and then stamp, glitter and it takes the place of heat and stick, I hope.  No more heat gun and two steps.  I haven't actually tried it yet, but I am keeping my hopes up that it works.  And I found this great border punch that I used to make the artichoke border here.  

I watercolored the house with creamy caramel, close to cocoa, bravo burgundy and artichoke.  I colored the windows with summer sun marker and toned it down with a little water.  

This is a super easy pocket card and would be a great Christmas card.  You could even put a family photo on the insert.

HOx3 Santa card

HOx3 means HO! HO! HO! as in Santa Claus saying that with "Merry Christmas!".  Okay I thought it was cute.  I totally CASED this card from the totally great demo magazine we get every month.  Did I mention being a demonstrator is really a great thing.  Lots of FREE samples, a great discount, FREE stamps, a sneak peak at all sorts of new stuff, great support and training, and so much more.  I love it.  What I wish for are more great stamps like some of the other companies out there have come out with, not the same old flower sets that we keep seeing coming out or being recycled by Stampin' UP!  I am just not feeling the same love these days for our stamps.  We need some truly new and cool stuff:  stuff for men, stuff for boys, and not the cutesy cartoony stuff.  Real stuff.  I am so holding my breath to see what new things we are getting in August in the new catalog.  I know of 2 new label like sets with coordinating new punches, new buttons, new In colors and coordinating ribbons and accessories, new Simply Scrappin' and designer papers since they retired all that were in this Spring and Summer catalog.  New hodgepodge hardware kits, and such.  Can I say that I am loving all the new accessories, and I will always love our colors.  Our paper and inks are so great.  But honestly, they better wow me with the stamps this time, or I might not be able to be so excited about Stampin' UP!  I'll try to hang in there with you.  

Here are the details of this fun card:  squares are 1 1/2 x 1 1/2.  Used kiwi kiss, riding hood red, bashful blue and white.  Same with inks.  Used circle punches and scallop punch.  White craft ink and a zig zag stitch clear stamp for the stitching.  I am loving that stamp.  Wise purchase here recently.   Deer friends set, as well as two retired Christmas sets: perfect presentation and Glad Tidings.

New Catalog Pairings

Here are some pairings of product from the new catalog to help you group together some coordinating products.  I know when the new catalogs come out, it's often hard to decide what new things to order and then know they will go together and what I can use them for.  So here are some product pairings I thought of to help you out.

Say It With Scallops (Ronald McDonald House set) with the scallop square punch and the Haiku paper

Party Hearty with the Junior Varsity designer paper, 1 3/4 inch circle punch, and the Chit Chat rub ons .  Also works with the tag punch too.

Pocket Silhouettes and the Chit Chat rub ons, and possibly the Haiku, Windsor or Urban Garden papers 

Upsy Daisy with Urban Garden paper

Only Ovals and the new wide oval punch, and either the Parisian Summer or Bella Rose papers

Bella's Bloom or Dreams Du Jour and the Bella Rose papers and the vanilla hodgepodge hardware set

Spotlight on Christmas and the oval punches (not wide oval), square punches, circle punches, large star punch and the 5 petal flower punch

Word Flurries rub ons and the I Wish Simply Scrappin or the Holiday Treasures designer paper, and the Seasons on board chipboard with the snowflakes, frames and leaves.  Think ornaments and gift packaging.

Curvy Label punch set with brushed silver paper and silver embossing powder  paired with any of the papers with blues, basic grey, or baja breeze, or pinks

Cheers to You set with the Berry Sorbet paper.  Think cool refreshing tropical flavors and you'll see why I think those go well together.  Plus the fun funky prints would match well with a drink inspired card.

Deer Friends in In colors

Here is a set of 3x3 notes using the new level 2 hostess set Deer Friends.  It is a great set for notecards, larger greetings and gift tags.  I love it.  I made a card with pretty much all the images using the new InColors,  my scallop edge punch, and my Papertreyink polka dot set.  I am waiting for matching IN color ribbon and designer paper to really do these up right.  But thought you would like the sneak peak.  Level 2 sets are for workshop orders $300 or more.  

Fresh Cuts notes in InColors

Here is a quick and easy set of Fresh cuts notes that I made to show off the new InColors for 2008-2009.  I love them.  I stamped the main image on the colored cardstock in white craft ink.  Then I stamped the "vine" on the front in the proper color.  A couple of the cards I used the new Scallop edge punch, which is so easy to use.  Then I stamped the small flower on white, cut them out and adhered them with a brad.  Then you glue your card front to the colored piece of paper, and you are done.  So easy.   Don't you just love these colors?

A Little Blog Clean up

I am finding that I spend way too much time searching my favorite blogs for things that I have seen I like or trying to figure out later whose blog I saw this or that tutorial on and so forth.  I needed to clean up my blog lists, organize the sites I visit, "bookmark" so to speak on here the things I think will be helpful to not only myself, but to you my blog viewers and my customers.  So here is a little information on what I have done.

Stampin' UP! specials will be posted at the top of the sidebar.  You'll see the promo flyer and then you can click on it to get more info.  Great tool here.  

My time is limited, and there are some really talented people out there who are way more organzied and better at posting project and card tutorials. I decided that it is a waste of my time to reinvent the wheel and try to retype their instructions and ideas.  So now they show up specifically on my side bar under the appropriate categories.  You need to check them out, in order from top to bottom.   There is a wealth of information on Andrea Walford's blog, Splitcoaststampers, Nicole Heady and Papertrey links, and on a few others I have on there.  You will find ways to use product you haven't dreamed of, and things that will make you say, "Ah, so that is how they did that.".  And there are card ideas, box ideas, and card kits that you will just love.  A lot of the card sketch ideas and color combos are so great at getting those creative juices going too.

I just don't have the time to do my own classes and kits these days.  These ladies have already done so and in most cases posted the direction for them.  I try to give you all the best help  I can as I know we are all looking for ways to maximize our creativity in the short amount of time we have to work on our crafting.  Also I know that internet and blog hopping can be big time wasters.  So I wanted to help you and myself with that too.  I hope this helps.   I want to inspire you, but really most of the projects that I make come from these wonderfully talented ladies.  So now you have direct links to their creativity and instructions.  NOt that I won't be trying to come up with my own twist on things, but the basic instructions will be the same.  

Hope all this helps you and you will use the tools I have provided.  Keep stamping, work smarter, and make the most of your creative time. 

Melissa  

It's here... I have the new catalog!!!

I have the new Stampin' UP! catalog.  It's gorgeous, as usual.  First impression as I looked through it was a mediocre one.  Lots of the stuff I like, I already have.  A lot of the same sets that I didn't like before in there, and the new stuff, well it was okay, but still too many flowers.  Not enough kids additions that were good.  Not enough occasions sets, and not enough fresh new stuff.  Now with that said.  I love the new designer papers, metal brads, clip assortments, ribbons, and punches.  There are a lot of great things there.  I'll talk more about that later.  

After looking through it a few times, I am a bit more optimistic, but still not a long list of stamps I want that are new.  A huge list of papers and accessories I want, but I will say the samples of art made with the stamps in this catalog are awesome.  The new In Colors really make the other 48 colors pop out at you.  They are stunning.  I didn't think I would like them when I first saw them this spring, but after having them and playing with them, seeing them combined with other colors in the catalog, I love them.  They are rich and vibrant and so wonderful.  

Now with that all said, here is my section by section review:

Hostess sets:  as in past couple of years, they don't do a lot for me.  I love the Deer Friends set for Christmas.  The Serene Spring set is also pretty.  Level 1 choices are Punches Three that go with the new square scallop punch and the new wide oval punch, Best Yet which also go with those two punches, and the prints paper pack--love the new prints designs.

Holidays:  none of the Halloween as we just aren't into that and they are too creepy.  I like the Batty For You, but again, I wouldn't buy it cause I wouldn't use it enough.  

Thanksgiving set In Everything Give Thanks is cute, but I don't see myself decorating and sending cards for Thanksgiving too much.  

Christmas:  love Snow Swirled, Spotlight on Christmas (goes with lots of the punches), Snowburst.  Holiday Trinkets is nice too.

Occasions: 

Cheers to you is the cocktail set I have been hoping for.  Very cute.

Love Party Hearty which goes with lots of punches and is quite versatile (hats can be turned into Christmas trees or upside down for pennants)

Crazy for Cupcakes is sort of like other companies cupcake sets, but it is nice

Simple Birthday Thanks is high on my list for helping my boys write their own thank yous for birthday gifts.  So cute.

Growing Up:  nothing too new and noteworthy

All Natural: 

Pocket silhouettes is very pretty and petite (on sale in Aug. for 15% off)

Inspired By Nature didn't really strike me too much at first, but I have seen convention goers samples and they are pretty.

Upsy Daisy  (on sale in Aug. for 15% off) is very pretty too and I just love the Urban Garden paper that goes with this set and Inspired by nature)

Bella's bloom is pretty and inexpensive and goes with the Bella Rose paper

Under the Stars is super cute for camping, and with Nathan in Cub Scouts it might go on the wish list.

Elements:

New addition to the large Calender stamp is Cute Cues with more cues to put on  your calendar

Say It With Scallops is the new Ronald McDonald House set and I really like it.  Love the square scallop punch it goes with.  I see simple but neat cards made from this set paired up with the pretty designer papers.  And $2 from the sale of each of these goes to the Ronald McDonald house.  I may do a special bundle with this in Sept. with square scallop punch.

Puns from the Past is a nice vintage pun set with antique typewriter, fan, grater, sewing machine, camera, buggy, and coffee pot.  Cute vintage look.  

Only Ovals with wide oval punch stamps.  Great for faux metal look. I like them.

It's a Plan background stamp set duo : planner pages and to do list on two stamps.  Okay think large On Board journals turned into a great daily planner or organizer in any color you want.  This is going on my list.

Bella Toile background is so pretty and elegant

Greetings:

New birthday greetings, thank you, script all occasion set, four square set for scallop square , new die cut alphabet.

Accessories:

All In Color products and stripe ribbons

Die cut blooms assortment from the Spring mini in a new color assortment as well as that one.  New color asst. is in baja breeze, vanilla, cocoa, and kiwi.

New notes and envelopes including the carousel notes and fresh cuts notes

Papers: urban garden, haiku, windsor knot, bella rose, hawaii papaya, maine blueberry, green tea(like the ginger blossom but in baja and greens), holiday treasures (Christmas), murifield, banbury and manchester are same prints different colors (think English plaid and argyle and stripes and such), parisian summer, and new prints in in colors as well as regular colors.

Simple Scrappin:  all new kits for baby, summer home and winter retreat, love the new I Wish for Christmas, Best Ever for birthdays is great. 

Simply Sent card elements: new elements with optional go together stamp sets.  Think precut cardstock and accents and elements pieces in a kit with a coordinating stamp set you may purchase separately.

Rub ons:  great ones here!  Word flurries for Christmas,  Chills and Thrills for Halloween, Chit Chat for all sorts of greetings, chateau bella, hidden garden, greatest moments, and school days.

New chipboard:  lots of letter sets with multiples of some letters and a lot of fun fonts.  You gotta get these.  Also a set with a combo of the ginormous frames and flower elements, a holiday set like what was in last years holiday mini but without the large letters, and a new 8 1/2 x 11 3 ring binder book you can cover and embellish.

New felt flowers in baja, chocolate and pink pirouette

New hardware:  clips assortment, mini library clips, new designer brads in different styles: filigree, flower, circles and stars, and vanilla styled hodgepodge  hardware.

Lots of new ribbon sizes and a new colors for some of the original collections.

Button assortment with different shapes and "prints" for Incolors. 

Punches: 1 3/4 circle, wide oval, scallop edge, scallop square and a new punch and stamp bundle minus the cool metal tin which is a curly label.  I like the curly label set as it works well with other punches and makes great faux metal accents paired up with metallic papers and embossing powders.

And that is all that grabbed my attention.  I in no way will be getting all of this stuff as I have too much already that I need to use up, but I still make my wish lists and then pick and choose off of that when I can.  

Nice thing is that the stamps will be around for at least a year, and the accessories I won't die without.  That paper though is pretty nice.  Hmm.  

Well that is all I have on the new catalog.  I'll keep posting the new stuff I make.  I hope you are inspired and you enjoy looking at all the cool samples in there.  They really are nice.  Some wonderful ideas, layouts,  and color combos.  I am enjoying my too late nights looking through it.